Wherefore Bill Withers?

As promised, I will now tell you why you should own Bill Withers' Greatest Hits. 

You likely fall into one of two camps:
Camp 1:  Bill Withers?  Duh.  He rules.
Camp 2:  No idea who you're talking about.

Ah, but dear members of Camp 2, you do know Bill Withers.  You have undoubtedly heard Club Nouveau's rendition of Withers' "Lean On Me" far too many times to count.  If you're like me, you may even have a vaguely sad or embarrassing memory attached to the song.  Mine involves a gradeschool birthday party in Brooke Blass' garage where we stood around singing along to the radio, eating cake and dreaming up reasons to mix and mingle with the boys in attendance.  When "Lean On Me" was blasted over the boom box speakers, someone had the bright idea to stand in a huge circle and put our arms around each others' shoulders.  Yes, Withers' songwriting gave us that exciting and elusive reason to touch each other, which is kind of a big deal when you're twelve.  A much better anecdote about this song is that Withers wrote it before he became a recording star, penning it as an ode to the camaraderie he experienced growing up in a West Virginia coal mining town (source).  The sentiment in the song is real, and Withers' version is obviously way better than anything Club Nouveau could ever imagine.  (Henceforth, I will never mention Club Nouveau again.)

But let's ignore "Lean On Me," because we can probably hear that song plenty of times in this life without ever having to own it.  Here's a look at some of the other amazing songs on his Greatest Hits:

"Just The Two Of Us" - Another song you've probably heard, it features a lovely soft rock sax solo, whispery backing vocals and Withers' signature lyrical style of simple and sweet.

"Use Me" - You may not know or expect this funky side of Withers, but the main melody plunked out on an electric piano is mesmerizing.

"Lovely Day" - Best listened to when you're already in a really good mood, or looking to get there.

"Ain't No Sunshine" - The polar opposite of "Lovely Day", this song is beautifully depressing.  He's singing the blues in a non-blues format:

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.
It's not warm when she's away.
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone,
And she's always gone too long, anytime she goes away.

Those are some incredibly romantic lyrics.  Also, I love it when an artist can make something totally wrong (here, the repetition of "I know I know I know...") and make it sound right on.  My only beef with this song is that I wish it were longer than two minutes, but he sure does make those two minutes memorable.

Here's a great live version of "Ain't No Sunshine", starting with a short intro with Withers explaining his inspiration for the song (note how awesome his drummer is): 

Finally, if the track listing hasn't convinced you to own this record, I offer up the album cover (you might recall I bought it on vinyl this past weekend) for your enjoyment:

Front Cover:

Back Cover:

I understand this is supposed to depict a sort of sexy, decadent, devil-may-care theme of indulgence, but I can't help but feel bad for that little prawn that somehow became estranged from his dinner plate.

• Buy Bill Withers - Greatest Hits from Amazon.

Here's a recent interview with the spry, handsome, nearly septuagenerian Withers:

Comments

[Harold]

"Ain't No Sunshine" is one of the all-time great songs. I'd go so far as to say it's the best song that repeats a single phrase 26 times in a row. But what's up with that album cover? Is that a bowl of catfood on the back? Please tell me it's not caviar.

[Krissy]

But of course it's caviar! I think this is one of my favorite album covers ever.

[.tiff]

That is a phenomenal album cover ... do want!

The strings in "Ain't No Sunshine" always give me the shivers, the lovely song that it is.

[Benjamin Trott]

That prawn is haunting me. There's the cookie, and the coffee/espresso; there are the shoes; there's the champagne, and the (I suppose) caviar; there's the cognac (?), or whatever it is; but who wants that lonely prawn?

Anyway, [this is good].

[Harold]

I prefer early Yes album covers. Less caviar, more cartoony underwater landscapes. There, I said it. It needed to be said.

[Eric]

Beautiful post, KT. And beautiful music. :)

-E

[oildale]

Prawn?, don't you feel bad for the turtleneck sweater? or Bill? two things that are great about the video. 1. He starts to sweat immediately (hence the name 'sweater'?) AND the bass player is still completely into the song while almost laying down. This could be the coolest band in history & that drummer is what some call "in the pocket".

[Anil]

Ah, yes, room service? We'll have a prawn, some shoddy caviar, a bottle of champagne... and can you leave us iwth the wire retainer for the cork? Perfect, thanks. Right, also... half of a chocolate? Terrific.

[Marti Jones]

Mr. Withers was recently inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. He is living in California.